The government’s inaction has allowed the scourge of “sugar daddies” to spread unchecked, preying on vulnerable female university students forced into prostitution due to poverty.
Kwekwe Central MP Judith Tobaiwa raised the alarm in parliament on Wednesday, demanding to know government measures to protect the girl child.
She asked: “My question is directed to the Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education. The girl child at university and college has become prey to old sugar daddies and other bad activities.
“Poverty is creating prostitution and abuse of a girl child at universities and colleges. What policy measures is the Government taking in addressing the national huge threat to the girl child?”
Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Felix Mhona, acknowledged the issue, saying that such incidents happen to vulnerable students. He, however, stated that there is a fees programme to help those in need.
“You find the prevalence of such incidents actually happen to those who are coming from less privileged families. There is a programme regarding the fees programme in terms of those who can be assigned to work for their fees in order to be supported during their tenure at the tertiary or at the college.
“So it is important that we raise awareness of such a facility so that we do not have our girl child taken advantage of if they tap into such a funding facility.
“So my emphasis here is to make sure that we continue broadcasting and highlighting that there is a programme that can support our girl child so that they do not endeavour in trying to do unethical things in terms of sustaining their fees at colleges,” he said.
When pressed on reintroducing government grants and loans, Mhona stated, “Some of those initiatives will also be considered.”
Chikanga Member of Parliament, Lynette Karenyi-Kore, highlighted the lack of accommodation for students, forcing them to seek unsafe lodging options.
Norton legislator Richard Tsvangirai pointed out the root cause of the problem as economic inequality and asked the minister what measures the government is taking to address it.
Mhona responded, saying economic inequality is a natural phenomenon.
“Even if you would go biblical, those who were poor were supposed to be there at the beginning of any given nation and you continue to have the poor amongst us.
“Whenever you talk of an equilibrium status, those inequalities will still be there and we are not advocating for poor people but we are saying surely, you cannot have an economy where you talk of everyone being on the same footing.
“My point here is, as much as we know as Government that there are those who are from less privileged families, we are having such initiatives as alluded to by Hon. Tobaiwa and Hon. Karenyi, so that we have more accommodation.
“We have grants so as to accommodate those who are less privileged,” he said.
